Clinical trial · Observational
Volatile Organic Compound Assessment in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma
Volatile Organic Compound Assessment in Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (VAPOR 1 / BIORESOURCE)
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Patients with early pancreatic cancer often have symptoms that could also be caused by many common benign conditions, or no symptoms at all. Jaundice, weight loss and pain are 'red flag' symptoms of pancreatic cancer that are linked to incurable disease. At the moment only patients with 'red flag' symptoms are urgently referred for diagnostic testing to find out if they have the cancer. As a result, late diagnosis is a common feature of pancreatic cancer. This leads to limited treatment options being available to patients by the time they are diagnosed, and ultimately results in poor survival rates. There is a clear need to improve earlier detection of pancreatic cancer so that patients with pancreatic cancer can be identified earlier and faster, enabling them to start treatment more quickly. The study team is developing a non-invasive breath test that detects small molecules called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that may be altered by pancreatic cancers. For patients with non-specific symptoms, this test would help general practitioners (GPs) to identify those patients that may indeed have an underlying pancreatic cancer, who would benefit from referral for specialised pancreatic cancer tests.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pancreatic Cancer | Malignant Pancreatic Neoplasm | CURATED_EXACT | 0.92 |
| PDAC - Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma | Pancreatic Neoplasm | PROBABILISTIC | 0.70 |
Interventions
Interventions (2)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breath test | Diagnostic Test | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Collection of matched samples of breath, biofluids and pancreatic tissue | Diagnostic Test | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (5)
- label
- VAPOR 1 - PDAC (pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma)
- description
- 304 treatment-naive patients with histologically-confirmed\* PDAC will be recruited to provide breath samples. \*Patients that are due to undergo surgery for suspected PDAC (without pre-operative histological confirmation) may still be recruited despite the lack of pre-operative histological confirmation, assuming PDAC is subsequently confirmed within the resected specimen.
- interventionNames
- Diagnostic Test: Breath test
- label
- VAPOR 1 - Control patients with benign pancreatic disorders
- description
- 257 patients with new-onset diabetes mellitus or chronic pancreatitis will be recruited to provide breath samples. New-onset diabetes is defined as: HbA1c≥48mmol/mol (6.5%), diagnosed within the preceding 6 months.
- interventionNames
- Diagnostic Test: Breath test
- label
- VAPOR 1 - Control patients with non-specific GI symptoms and a normal pancreas
- description
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Males and females * Adult patients ≥ 18 years old * VAPOR 1: patients with either a) Histologically confirmed PDAC\*; b) New-onset diabetes mellitus or chronic pancreatitis; or c) Non-specific gastrointestinal symptoms, but a radiologically-normal pancreas * VAPOR Bioresource: patients undergoing pancreatic resection for a) Histologically confirmed PDAC\*; or b) Benign pancreatic disorders e.g. intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasms, pancreatic mucinous cystic neoplasms, chronic pancreatitis Note: \*Patients undergoing surgery for suspected PDAC (without pre-operative histological confirmation) may be recruited assuming PDAC is confirmed within the resected specimen. Exclusion Criteria: * Patients who have already received chemotherapy, radiotherapy or surgery for their PDAC * History of another cancer within the previous five years * Previous upper gastrointestinal surgery * Patients who are unable to provide a breath sample * Pregnant women * Patients unable to provide informed written consent * VAPOR 1: Patients with active infection, receiving immunosuppressive medications or antibiotics within the preceding eight weeks * VAPOR Bioresource: Patients receiving immunosuppressive medications within the preceding eight weeks
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDWalsh CM, Murray J, Laponogov I, Parker A, Ellis JK, Converso V, Austin E, Boshier PR, Czajkowski C, Spalding D, Al-Mukhtar A, Frampton AE, Roberts KJ, Pandanaboyana S, Halloran C, Costello E, Kocher H, Mitra V, Hamady Z, Al-Sarireh B, Pathak S, Mitchell WK, Siriwardena AK, Westlake C, Pereira SP, Spiliotis I, Biswas S, Vapor Collaborators, Spanel P, Veselkov K, Sharples LD, Hanna GB; VAPOR Collaborators. Development and validation of a diagnostic prediction model for pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma: VAPOR 1, protocol for a prospective multicentre case-control study. BMJ Open. 2025 Aug 27;15(8):e094505. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2024-094505. PMID 40866056